William Henry Orpet (1895 - 1948)

Born 4 Mar 1895 in Lowell Massachusetts

Ancestors

Died 17 Feb 1948 at age 52 in Los Angeles, California

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Biography

Will was the son of Edward Orpet and Bridgett Maginness.

Will's birth and death dates are of public record^[1].

When Will was a student at University of Wisconsin, he was accused of homicide in the death of former hometown girlfriend Marion Lambert. After one of the most sensational trials of that era, which captured nationwide attention, Will was acquitted. But sadly, the course of his life and his relationship to family was permanently changed due to the nature of the accusation, the aggressiveness of the prosecution, and the notoriety brought on by the highly publicized trial^[2].

Will achieved the rank of Sgt. in the AAF^[1].

In 1940, Will was living in Compton, California with wife Kathryn^[3]. Kathryn was 10 years his senior, born in Wyoming on 28 Mar 1885 to William Richey Swan and Kathryn Susan Trabing.. She had been married first to James Franklin Pender in Utah in 1905. She died in November 1947, just four months prior to Will's decease^[4].

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Burial notice from Los Angeles National Cemetery reads: Orpet, William Henry, b. 03/04/1895, d. 02/17/1948, SGT 4TH PROV CO AAF, Plot: 169 13/D, bur. 02/24/1948, *
2. ↑ From a Chicago Tribune centennial article written on the 100th anniversary of the trial
3. ↑ 1940 US Federal Census
4. ↑ "Roots Finder," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:3:MMSX-8H9 : accessed 20 June 2018), entry for Kathryn Swan, cites sources; "The Boston Family Tree" file (2:3:2:MMMM-CJL), submitted 19 September 2017 by Robert Boston1.

• Pat Morrison